1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an unit having an associative function which is obtained from an analysis on actions of nerves and brains of animals including human beings (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cassociation unitxe2x80x9d), a method for information processing such as recording and reproduction of information utilizing such an unit, and a machine including an information processing computer and operating in close resemblance to animals which belongs to the field of information processing apparatuses such as electronic computers and, more particularly, to the field of artificial intelligence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current electronic computers perform information processing by recording required information in a storage device after converting it into binary notation and by processing and outputting the recorded information in a central processing unit (also referred to as xe2x80x9cCPUxe2x80x9d) in accordance with instructions and procedures stored in a storage device. Recently, electronic computers have become able to perform operations such as calculations of numerical values more accurately and quickly as a result of improvements on central processing units, the heart of electronic computers, which have increased speed of information processing and the amount of information that can be processed at a time. However, they are not good at processing information including ambiguity that a man can do very easily such as recognition of faces, voices, tastes, smells and the like, interpretation of braille points and interpretation of sentences (collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cpattern recognitionxe2x80x9d). The inventor has made a study into the functions of nerves and brains of animals and conceived and developed an xe2x80x9cassociation unitxe2x80x9d having a function which is very similar to information processing that animals do.
Information processing that a human being does (xe2x80x9cmemorizingxe2x80x9d that is to record information and xe2x80x9crecallingxe2x80x9d that is to read the record) is characterized in that pieces of information related to each other are memorized as one group and in that a piece of information memorized in advance is recalled from another piece of information which is related to the same.
For example, a man who has heard and memorized a story that Newton discovered the universal gravitation when he saw an apple dropping from an apple tree recalls the name xe2x80x9cNewtonxe2x80x9d from an xe2x80x9capplexe2x80x9d on a table.
Such an action of association allows a piece of input information to be understood to some degree of accuracy even if it is not in perfect coincidence with another piece of information stored in advance. This is a method of information processing which is completely different from methods for information retrieval based on perfect coincidence of information and information processing performed in electronic computers wherein pieces of information are recorded separately without any association therebetween although they are recorded accurately.
Further, a human being experiences a phenomenon referred to as xe2x80x9cillusionxe2x80x9d (referred to as xe2x80x9coptical illusionxe2x80x9d when it relates to the sense of sight) which is related to such xe2x80x9cassociationxe2x80x9d. This in a phenomenon that input information is erroneously recognized under the influence of association on the contrary to the case described above. There are various kinds of illusion. For example, straight lines drawn in a radial direction over parallel lines cause the parallel lines to appear bulgy in the middle (FIG. 1), and a profile of a triangle that can not actually exist is seen (FIG. 2). Such a phenomenon referred to as illusion is a phenomenon which no electronic computer encounters. The inventor has noticed that the nature which characterizes the way of information processing specific to animals exists in such a difference.
As described above, information processing that occurs in animals including human beings is considered to be based on a different principle. From such findings obtained on human beings and the like, the inventor thought that a method for information processing having closer similarity to that in human beings and the like would not be a method wherein information is simply recorded and retrieved accurately, but it would be a method wherein individual pieces of information are xe2x80x9cassociatedxe2x80x9d (for example, a plurality of pieces of information which are incidentally input at the same time are associated with each other), and various pieces of information which have already been associated can be recalled when only one of such associated pieces of information is input as input information.
The inventor also noticed that the phenomenon of xe2x80x9cassociationxe2x80x9d is a phenomenon that is the key of activities such as thinking and language.
For example, the inventor considered that thoughts involved in solving a mathematical problem form one pattern as a whole, and an action of solving a particular mathematical problem proceeds in a way of thinking which is an association made with another problem involving a similar way of thinking.
Association in a language-related activity is as follows. For example, when an article xe2x80x9cFujisanxe2x80x9d is pronounced, each of sounds xe2x80x9cfuxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cjixe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9csaxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d is substantially simultaneously recalled in association with each other in a short period of time (simultaneity will be discussed in detail later). It is therefore considered that those four sounds are recalled substantially unconsciously. That is, when xe2x80x9cFujisaxe2x80x9d is recalled, the last sound xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d is substantially xe2x80x9cautomaticallyxe2x80x9d recalled as a result of association, in other words xe2x80x9cassociativelyxe2x80x9d instead of recalling each sound one by one. It is considered that this equally applies to the usage of verbs and the connection of words. For example, it is considered that words xe2x80x9csinogixe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ckezuruxe2x80x9d in a chain of words xe2x80x9csinogi-wo-kezuruxe2x80x9d are memorized substantially associatively and those words are unconsciously recalled as a chain of words with no attention paid to the connection between each word.
The inventor also thought that memories of driving techniques are related to association. For example, it is considered that when someone rides a bicycle or plays piano, he or she makes a series of actions continuously by recalling them associatively, e.g. he or she keeps balance of the body unconsciously without thinking or moves the fingers to produce a melody as if the fingers are xe2x80x9cindependentlyxe2x80x9d moving. As apparent from those examples, the inventor conceived the present invention based on an idea that input and output of a plurality of pieces of information which are recalled in association with each other simultaneously or at some time intervals are the key factor of information processing that occurs in the central nervous system of a human being or the like. Specifically, the inventor has conceived an xe2x80x9cassociation unitxe2x80x9d which is an unit capable of xe2x80x9cassociationxe2x80x9d by associating a plurality of different pieces of information with each other and found that it is possible to create an apparatus capable of information processing having close similarity to that in the central nervous system of an animal such as a human being using such an unit.
It is an object of the invention to provide a basic unit to be used for creating an information processing apparatus capable of information processing similar to that actually occurs in the central nervous system of an animal such as a human being and to provide an apparatus including an information processing computer utilizing such an unit.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an unit for repeating input and output signals having k or more (k is an integer equal to or greater than 2) signal input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a first repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from particular output terminals associated in advance to each of input terminals in a quantity less than k when the first input signal which is a pulse-shaped rectangular wave signal is input to the input terminals simultaneously; and
a second repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third signal from all of the output terminals when the third input signal is input to input terminals in a quantity less than k within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal is simultaneously input to the k or more input terminals.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an association unit for repeating input and output signals having signal input terminals and output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a third repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from particular output terminals associated with input terminals to which the first input signal which is an analog signal having total signal strength less than a preset value xcex8 is input; and
a fourth repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third input signal from all of the output terminals when the third input signal having total signal strength less than the preset value xcex8 is input to the input terminals within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal having total signal strength equal to or greater than the present value xcex8 is input to the input terminals.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an unit for repeating input and output signals having two signal input terminals and two output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a fifth repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from the particular output terminal associated with one of the input terminals to which the first input signal is input; and
a sixth repeating means for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third input signal from both of the output terminals when the third input signal is input to only one of the input terminals within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal is input to the two input terminals.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus characterized in that it comprises one or a plurality of units connected to each other according to the first, second or third aspect of the invention.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus having a signal input terminals and an output terminal wherein an input signal is input to the input terminal and a predetermined output signal is output from the output terminal, characterized in that the predetermined output signal is output from the output terminal when only a part of the input signal is input to the input terminal within a predetermined period of time after the input signal is input.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for association in a repeating apparatus for repeating input and output signals having k or more (k is an integer equal to or greater than 2) signal input terminals and a plurality of output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a first repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from particular output terminals associated in advance to each of input terminals in a quantity less than k when the first input signal which is a pulse-shaped rectangular wave signal is input to the input terminals simultaneously; and
a second repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third signal from all of the output terminals when the third input signal is input to input terminals in a quantity less than k within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal is simultaneously input to the k or more input terminals.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for association in a repeating apparatus for repeating input and output signals having signal input terminals and output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a third repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from particular output terminals associated with input terminals to which the first input signal which is an analog signal having total signal strength less than a preset value xcex8 is input; and
a fourth repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third input signal from all of the output terminals when the third input signal having total signal strength less than the preset value xcex8 is input to the input terminals within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal having total signal strength equal to or greater than the present value xcex8 is input to the input terminals.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for association in an repeating apparatus for repeating input and output signals having two signal input terminals and two output terminals, characterized in that it comprises:
a fifth repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a first input signal only from the particular output terminal associated with one of the input terminals to which the first input signal is input; and
a sixth repeating step for outputting an output signal having the same contents as those of a third input signal from both of the output terminals when the third input signal is input to only one of the input terminals within a predetermined period of time after a second input signal is input to the two input terminals.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for association characterized in that it comprises the step of carrying out the method for association according to the sixth, seventh or eighth aspect of the invention once or a plural times.
According to a tenth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for processing information in a processing apparatus having a signal input terminals and an output terminal wherein an input signal is input to the input terminal and a predetermined output signal is output from the output terminal, characterized in that the predetermined output signal is output from the output terminal when only a part of the input signal is input to the input terminal within a predetermined period of time after the input signal is input.